Quick Hits: Drew, Arrieta, Pirates, Mariners

A few odds and ends to pass along as this busy Tuesday night winds down …

The Diamondbacks are less likely to trade shortstop Stephen Drew now that they've removed Ryan Roberts from the roster, tweets Jack Magruder of FOXSportsArizona.com. GM Kevin Towers said there's no deal out there for Drew "that's going to make us better."

I am not going to dislike this comment, but you just said power and shortstop in the same sentence. How many power SS are in the MLB? not many. I don’t like Barmes either, but he is solid on the field. I agree the Marte should be getting a call up soon with Stanton nor Elvis not doing well in the lead off spot. guess we will wait and see.

Erick Aybar? He of the .105 career ISO? Willie Bloomquist with his career high of 4 homers and a pitcher-esque .076? These are your “power” shortstops? MAYBE the Pirates could land a guy like Stephen Drew who might qualify if he can return to 2010 form but with the downgrade in the defense that’d probably be a wash. At this point, I’d like to see them land Pence if the Phillies are realistic about his value or Victorino (who I’m assuming the price will come down on) if not. I’d also like to see them add a good LOOGY and I think Jose Mijares would be a great fit.

Can’t blame the Phillies for asking…I still see Pence in a Pirates uniform.
But with my luck, the Phillies will win 10 straight, think they are in it, stand pat, and then fall apart and get no prospects. Ugh.

I think I would have hung up the phone as well. Philly pretty much took Pence out from under the Pirates last year by over paying for him in the trade they made. Now they want one of the Key bullpen guys, because they now realize they over paid.

Why do the Phillies want Lincoln?
Also, I see the miracles are flowing in Philadelphia these days.
Two big comebacks in a row, unbelievable!
As for the article, Ken Rosenthal and I should have been in that All Sate commercial with the hippie dude and the serious person.
Hippie Dude, oh we both have All State. It’s like we are connected. Serious, person, no we are not. Hippie dude, yeah we are!
Anyway, back to the MLB Tr comments by Ken: The Orioles may not have a choice but to trade starter Jake Arrieta. I have been saying that for awhile. Plus, if the “Duke” is going to make a trade, it better be soon! I am curious though who started the Hanley Ramirez conversation, the O’s or the Marlins. The Orioles need more consistent pop in the line-up and Ramirez could do that.
We also could use Justin Morneau. I think Morneau is healthy, he’s just not all the way back yet to having good form. Maybe a change of scenery could help with that. Question is will Angelos spend the money to do it!

Maybe call Marte up (assuming he doesn’t go in this hypothetical Pence trade) and stick with a strict platoon at 1st with Jones and McGehee. Would be nice to have somebody on the bench with some thump instead of just Harrison, Sutton and Gorkys types. Marte, Walker, McCutchen, Pence, Jones/McGehee, Alvarez, Barajas, Barmes. Could work.

Yes Pat thus the “as pathetic as it sounds”. Most likelt Marte would have to be involved in a Pence trade. And Walker is not a leadoff hitter. he’s great in the two hole being a switch hitter with good bat control. You’re sure as heck not leading off Cutch or Pence. Who else does that leave?

I would lead off Presley, Walker or Mckenry before Barmes. He has a K/BB ratio of 5/67, that is historically bad.

Maybe Presley leads off against RHP with Jones at 1B and McGehee benched, and McKenry leads off against LHP or possibly they’d even keep Presley in the lineup since he may hit lefties better than Jones?

Walker is so good at driving in runs that he shouldn’t be the leadoff hitter, so if they don’t mind keeping Presley up he can still lead off with McGahee and Jones getting reduced PT.

This is all moot if they don’t trade for Pence or they can keep Marte and trade Presley/Tabata in the deal instead. Still, replacing Presley with a corner OF bat will leave the lineup with a big question mark at the leadoff spot.

Not sure I’d be welcome to trading Lincoln for Victorino. Victorino is having a pretty down season and would probably be strictly a rental, probably not worth giving up multiple years of a pitcher who’s just starting to come into his own. Even if he’s not a starter, he’s been valuable in many different roles in the pen. Coming in and giving multiple shutout innings is huge, and he’s a closer candidate in the future. I don’t believe he’d be much better than Marte, if not worse.

I would trade him if they can line up a deal for another reliever, preferably a LHP such as Perkins, Mijares, Collins, Thatcher, etc. I don’t think Watson is good enough to be the only lefty in the pen, and they need another for matchups as the season goes on.